Hungary sludge flood

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Tunde Erdelyi (l.) saves her cat while Janos Kis (r.) walks into their yard flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Monday's flooding was caused by the rupture of a red sludge reservoir at an alumina plant in western Hungary and has affected seven towns near the Ajkai Timfoldgyar plant 100 miles southwest of the capital Budapest. The Hungarian government has declared a state of emergency in three counties in western Hungary due to the alumina sludge spill. Bela Szandelszky/AP

Logs carried in by the flooding toxic mud cover a yard in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Bela Szandelszky/AP

A Hungarian soldier wearing chemical protection gear walks through a street flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Bela Szandelszky/AP

A Hungarian woman reacts while seeing her home flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Bela Szandelszky/AP

A firefighter wades through the mud in Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 4 after a reservoir containing red mud of the alumina factory in nearby Ajka broke, and the poisonous chemical sludge inundated some 400 family houses in Devecser, killing one person and injuring several dozens. Lajos Nagy/MTI/AP

An aerial view of the broken dike, center right, of a reservoir containing red mud from an alumina factory near Ajka, Hungary, is seen here on Oct. 5. Over one million cubic meters of the poisonous chemical sludge inundated three villages. Gyoergy Varga/MTI/AP

An aerial view of the red mud covering streets and neighborhood of Kolontar, Hungary, is seen here. Gyoergy Varga/MTI/AP

Mud-covered streets and debris are seen scattered in Devecser, Hungary, from an aerial view, on Oct. 5 after a dike of a reservoir containing red mud from an alumina factory in Ajka, Hungary, broke. Gyoergy Varga/MTI/AP

Janos Kis tries to return to his home flooded by toxic mud in the town of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Bela Szandelszky/AP

Firemen evacuate people from a flooded village of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 4. The dam of a sludge reservoir at an alumina factory in western Hungary burst on Monday, flooding parts of two villages, the regional emergency unit said. Reuters

Locals clear up toxic sludge in the flooded village of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 5. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

Policemen walk through toxic mud in the flooded village of Devecser, Hungary, on Cot. 5. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

A man walks past a flooded gas station in the village of Devecser, Hungary, on Oct. 4. Reuters

A resident stands next to a destroyed bridge in the flooded village of Kolontar, Hungary, on Oct. 5. The day after a torrent of toxic red sludge from an alumina plant flowed through local villages, Hungary declared a state of emergency in three western counties on Tuesday. Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

After widespread protests, a six-month state of emergency started in October. Now, much depends on the next move of leaders who have long used their track record of economic development to paper over widespread human rights abuses and political repression.

ByJames Jeffrey, ContributorDecember 9, 2016

Stringer/AP/File

For nearly a year, mass protests surged across Ethiopia – and stormed across the world’s headlines – as a movement that began with farmers fighting land grabs outside the country’s capital mushroomed into the country’s most sustained and widespread period of dissent and protests since its ruling party came to power more than two decades ago.